Kevin Gorman began his City career with Seattle Public Utilities before joining City Light in 2017 as part of an out of class assignment. “I love the job and pursued it full-time,” he shared. The job? Working on the LED Streetlight Conversion Program in the Joint Use and Streetlight Engineering group.
Kevin was born in Waco, Texas but has lived in Washington for 32 years. “I’m all evergreens, flannel shirts and raincoats,” he shared. “The seascapes, sunrises and mountains keep me hanging around.” He served in the Coast Guard as a Boatswain’s Mate before pursuing multiple degrees – an A.A. in psychology, a B.S. in small business management/entrepreneurship and a project management certificate from the University of Washington.
In this week’s (spot)Light, Kevin talks about his job, life in Bremerton and his hobbies.
“Like the MXPX song, I moved to Bremerton. I started looking for a home at the start of the housing crisis and was fortunate to stumble upon a place that I should not talk about, because it’s that great! Now only a 30-minute ferry from Seattle, I can walk three blocks from my house, take a free cruise and be downtown. Community is important to me and Bremerton has everything I was looking for.”
“I was elected to Bremerton City Council in 2017 and presently chair Bremerton’s Public Works Committee and Vice-chair the Finance and Investment Committee. The work is quite interesting, stressful, and rewarding. It adds a new perspective to my work at City Light. I just returned from a monumental trip to Bremerton’s Sister City – Kure, Japan – with my daughter, Summer. We celebrated the 50-year anniversary of the Sister City program and Summer’s 17th birthday!”
“I also chair the Manette Neighborhood Coalition, an organization that provides a unified voice for neighbors and hosts several community events. I own a few rental units that keep me swinging hammers and rolling paint. When I find the time, I like woodworking, making stop animation films and music production.”
“Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) revolutionized the streetlight industry. In my role, I get to research, test and install new streetlight equipment that significantly reduces City Light’s carbon footprint, maintenance and energy cost. My big goal for the program is to implement streetlight control infrastructure, and a robust GIS platform for managing the 85,000+ assets. I’m especially proud of the work we completed for the Historic Globe lights in Pioneer Square and Downtown. The process was challenging, and the payoff is what I consider the most beautiful LED installation in the country, but I could be biased.”
“I’m really into the industry and equipment research, strategic planning, and spreadsheets. But my favorite part of the job are the relationships with the talented and supportive staff across all the utility. After 11 years with the city, I found exactly where I belong.”